Revelation 13. The subject of ch.13 is the two chief instruments Satan will use to carry out his purpose to expunge the faithful from the earth and cause the apostasy of the Christianized world. We have already had the dragon introduced in ch.12, and now we get his co-conspirators, who are really his instruments. This fits into the broader context of God’s dealings with Israel in that the two agents will be involves in a campaign of persecution against the faithful remnant of Israel, called “the saints” (v.7). Further, the apostate nation of Israel with the rest of the earth-dwellers will embrace antichrist and the worship of the beast, sealing their doom (vv.9-10, 16). God has His Lamb, and Satan has his two beasts. The first is a civil authority, and the second is a religious authority.

 

 

 

v.1 His Origin. John was “standing on the sand of the sea”, which was a new orientation. The student of prophecy needs to be reoriented to see the troubled state of the Gentile world. A beast is seen “rising out of the sea”. A “beast” has no God-conscious intelligence, and it is an illusion to the beasts of Daniel which represent Gentile political powers. This beast arises from the sea, which pictures the origin of an empire – the revived Roman Empire – from the tumultuous convulsions of the middle of the week, connected with the expulsion of Satan from heaven. For the meaning of the heads and horns, see notes on Rev. 17:9-11. The horns aren’t crowned in the first half of the week (Dan. 7:7) while the woman rides the beast (Rev. 17:7). The beast will get a special power at the middle of the week when it takes on it’s diabolical form. This is when the seventh head becomes the eighth in ch.17. As to this change, the beast is viewed as ascending “out of the bottomless pit,”. It is a Satanic revival. Revelation 13:1 tells of the origin (from the sea), but ch.7 of the power (from the abyss), when the horns are crowned. The “names of blasphemy” show us that the Beast will be set in direct opposition to God and that which represents Him.

 

 

v.2 His Character. This monster will embody the leading characteristics of the empires that have run before it (Dan 7:4-6): swiftness of Greece (leopard), power of Persia (bear), boldness of Babylon (lion). The Beast will derive all His power from the Dragon, or Satan. The Dragon gives three things to the beast: “his power”, death, physical and moral (Heb. 2:14), “his throne”, the kingdoms of the world (Rev. 2:13, John 12:31, Matt. 4:8), “great authority”, the power of darkness (Eph. 2:2).

 

 

v.4 Worship of the Dragon and the Beast. In glorying in the power of Rome, people will actually be worshiping Satan; “they did homage to the dragon”. Man needs an object to worship, and Satan will give them one. Antichrist will enforce this worship (v.12). Ironically, there is an answer to the question: “who can make war with the beast? The King of kings and Lord of lords can and will make war with the beast.

 

 

vv.5-6 Blasphemous Speech. The first character of the beast is his foul and preposterous language (see also Daniel 7:8, “a mouth speaking great things”). Contrast the “great words” of the beast with the “gracious words” of our Lord Jesus (Luke 4:22). The beast continues from the middle of the week on to the end. Blasphemies are words of spiritual injury (Dan 7:25). He speaks: (1) “against God” Himself, (2) against “his name and his tabernacle”, or that which is identified with God and enjoys His protection on earth, i.e. the remnant, and (3) against “those who have their tabernacle in the heaven”, who are beyond the reach of this diabolical man.

 

 

 

v.8 Self-exaltation. The earth-dwellers without exception succumb to worship of the beast, who glorifies himself as Nebuchadnezzar did years ago (Dan. 3:7). Some of the expositors (Darby & Kelly) disagree on earth-dwellers being a moral class in this verse. Notice that those who are written in the book of life are the only ones who refuse to worship the beast. Sovereign election is the only reason why any saint, in any dispensation, can persevere in the face of apostasy. These ones are said to have their names written in the book of life “from the founding of the world”. When speaking of the church, it says we were “chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4), which is the farthest back in the purposes of God, though last to be revealed in time. 

 

 

vv.9-10 Two Principles for the Remnant. Next we have a call to the remnant to “listen up”. Contrast “let him hear” with “let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches” as in Rev. 2:7. The church is gone! Two principles that the remnant must take heed to:

1. “If any one leads into captivity, he goes into captivity.” Evil will not go unpunished. Divine judgement will fall on the beast (see Psalm 137:8). The beast is arresting the remnant now, but Christ will arrest the beast at His coming.
2. “If any one shall kill with the sword, he must with the sword be killed.” Don’t try to avenge yourself with the sword. Meekly endure the fiery trial, leave it in the Lord’s hands (Romans 12:19).

 

v.11 The Second Beast. The second beast of Revelation 13 it the same person later referred to at the “false prophet”. Many dispensationalists confuse the roles of the first and second beast. By carefully studying the details of this chapter, as well as the details about the “little horn” of Daniel 7, and the “man of sin” of 2 Thessalonians 2, and Antichrist of John’s epistles, we conclude that Antichrist is this second beast, not the first beast. One reason for this is that he has a highly religious office, while the first beast is highly political. The second beast rises from the earth, which represents the stable nations. The most stable and wealthy of all the nations will be Israel, until the middle of the week. The second beast has “two horns like a lamb”, which insinuates a pretense of being the true Messiah. However, his words betray him (Matt. 12:34); “spake as a dragon”. He is really a mouthpiece for the Devil. The two horns are a pretension of power. Compare with Rev. 5:6 where the True Lamb has seven horns, or perfection of power. Antichrist is both king and prophet/priest. These two offices of antichrist are pictured in the Old Testament types of Absalom & Ahithophel, and Ahaz & Urijah. In opposition to him will be the Lord’s two witnesses of Rev. 11. After antichrist flees from the king of the north, he loses the kingly office as the false king of the Jews (compare Dan. 11:36; John 10:13; Zech. 11:17; Isa. 22: 19-21). We might say he loses one of his horns, so to speak. Thereafter simply called, the “false prophet”. See entry for more details on Antichrist.

 

 

v.12 Connection with the First Beast. The Antichrist has the Beast’s power at his disposal, carte blanche. The primary role of the Antichrist will be to direct the religious affairs in the empire (Dan. 11:38); or “causes the earth and those that dwell in it to do homage to the first beast”. Rationalists and ritualists alike will be swept up; “the earth and those that dwell in it”.

 

 

v.13 Power to Do Signs. To encourage the people of the earth to worship the beast, Antichrist will give them signs. The Jews desire to see signs (1 Cor. 1:22), and so this will appeal to them. Antichrist will appear to even have heaven’s approval; “cause even fire to come down from heaven to the earth before men” (as in 1 Kings 18:38). Given permission, Satan has the power to do these signs (Job 1:16). Here Antichrist, under the power of Satan, does the same miracle as Elijah. However, Elijah’s miracle had the effect of turning the people’s hearts to the Lord, but Antichrist turns the people’s hearts in the opposite direction (1 Kings 18:37).

 

 

v.14 A Deception and the Image. As a symbol of the beast-idolatry, Antichrist will deceive the earth-dwellers to make an image, representing the first beast. This “image” is very likely what Daniel and Jesus spoken of as “the abomination that makes desolate” (Matt. 24:15, Dan. 12:11) foreshadowed by Nebuchadnezzar’s image in Dan. 3, and Antiochus Epiphanes’ wicked deed in the temple. The delusion (2 Thess. 2:11) is so strong that that the earth-dwellers themselves willingly make the image! The Gentile powers have had a history of forcing religion on their subjects, for so Dan. 3 and Dan. 6 give us the principle. The last form of Babylon will be no different. The image is “to the beast” not “of the beast”, that is, it is for his glory. This particularly awful form of idolatry, which will consume the majority of the civilized world, is perhaps the moment when the “mystery of iniquity” becomes full (2 Thess. 2:7).

 

 

v.15 Power to Deceive and to Punish Insubordinates. The second beast has the power to give “breath”, not “life”, to the image. It is only the appearance of life. Antichrist (or even Satan) cannot give life. How will this work? Perhaps robotics or artificial intelligence combined with Satanic power? It appears to be Satanic possession of an inanimate object. This is something unprecedented, as far as we read in scripture.

 

 

v.16 The Mark of the Beast. Antichrist will be the financial leader of the empire as well as religious leader. The mark is a personal token or pass required to buy groceries, get gasoline, or do any type of business – with no exceptions. But there is a deeper sense to it, see “name” in v.17. The Antichrist will put intense pressure on the remnant to give in and take the mark. Compare with other marks; Rev. 22:4 and Gal. 6:17. There are two places for the mark: (1) the “right hand” denotes action or service, as this mark will identify the agents of the Beast, and (2) the “forehead” denotes public identification, marking these individuals as his public supporters. Perhaps in a deeper application, once a person takes the mark, all actions (right hand) and thoughts (forehead) are under his control. This is a clear contrast to the Old Testament command to place the words of God on oneself; “And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes” (Deut. 6:8).

 

 

v.17 Control. Attached to the mark of the beast, which gives access to the economy, are one of two things: (1) the “name of the beast” which is a sign of ownership or slavery, or (2) “the number of its name” which is 666, a thrice-repetition of the number of humanity, falling short of seven; a complete departure from what is divine.

 

 

v.18 The Number of the Beast. There will be those (the Maskilim, or instructed ones) that will see the application of this prophecy to a particular man. Perhaps this number will help them identify an individual. But, the number is also representative: three (a full manifestation) sixes (man in the flesh fallen short of God’s glory). The remnant will NOT be sucked in but the antics of the beast or his false prophet. Perhaps the number is a comfort to them, to realize that after all, the beast is just a man; “a man’s number”.